William Cotterill

William Cotterill
Personal information
Full name
William John Cotterill
Born(1863-03-25)25 March 1863
Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand
Died30 October 1946(1946-10-30) (aged 83)
Timaru, Canterbury, New Zealand
BattingRight-handed
RelationsArthur Cotterill (brother)
Henry Cotterill (brother)
Edward Cotterill (brother)
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1881–82 to 1893–94Canterbury
Career statistics
Competition First-class
Matches 13
Runs scored 336
Batting average 15.27
100s/50s 0/1
Top score 74*
Balls bowled –
Wickets –
Bowling average –
5 wickets in innings –
10 wickets in match –
Best bowling –
Catches/stumpings 6/0
Source: CricketArchive, 1 March 2019

William John Cotterill (25 March 1863 – 30 October 1946) was a New Zealand cricketer who played first-class cricket for Canterbury from 1882 to 1894.

William Cotterill was one of the 17 children of the Rev. George Cotterill, who became Canon of Christchurch.[1] He and his seven brothers were educated at Christ's College, Christchurch, and five of them played first-class cricket in New Zealand.[2]

Cotterill was a right-handed batsman. He captained the Christ's College cricket team in 1880, scoring 252 runs at an average of 36, which was believed to be the best seasonal batting average by a player at the school to that time.[3] His best first-class score was 74 not out in Canterbury's victory over Otago in 1884–85, when the next-highest score in the match was 36. He was the only Canterbury batsman to play the bowling of Frank Cooke (who took 9 for 73) with any success, and was carried shoulder-high to the pavilion when the innings ended.[4][5]

Cotterill moved from Christchurch to Invercargill in 1892 in his work for the New Zealand Shipping Company.[6] In 1896 he moved to Timaru to take up the position of Timaru manager for the company.[7] He retired from the position in 1920 after 39 years with the company.[8] While in the position he also performed "with tact and ability" as chairman of the local Wharf Labourers' Dispute Committee.[9]

Cotterill died in Timaru in October 1946, aged 83. His wife Maud predeceased him.[10]

  1. ^ "Person Page – 44790". The Peerage. Retrieved 7 March 2019.
  2. ^ Greg Ryan, Where the Game Was Played by Decent Chaps, PhD thesis, University of Canterbury, 1996, p. 147.
  3. ^ "The past cricket season". Star. 12 May 1881. p. 3.
  4. ^ "Canterbury v Otago 1884–85". CricketArchive. Retrieved 1 March 2019.
  5. ^ "Interprovincial match". Lyttelton Times. 29 December 1884. p. 5.
  6. ^ "Cricket". Otago Witness. 29 September 1892. p. 30.
  7. ^ "Town & Country". Timaru Herald. 20 July 1896. p. 2.
  8. ^ "Personal". Timaru Herald. 11 March 1920. p. 7.
  9. ^ "Valedictory: Mr. W. J. Cotterill: Watersiders' appreciation". Timaru Herald. 8 June 1920. p. 5.
  10. ^ "Deaths". Press: 1. 31 October 1946.